Archive for david long

One of our live highlights of 2018 was undoubtedly David Long’s show at Whelan’s. One of the many standout moments of the night was a track which Dave has kindly allowed us to post today. It comes from a forthcoming album ‘In Headphones’. Recorded by David Ayers the track was produced by David Long/Adrian O’Connell/David Ayers and features artwork by Noel Farrell/David Long. We asked novelist & Into Paradise fan Ben Vendetta if he would write a few words by way of introduction..

I was thrilled to learn that Into Paradise frontman Dave Long enjoyed my novel ‘Heartworm‘, which takes place in 90s Dublin. When the book was published in 2015, Dave wrote to me, saying “It’s great. I read it last night, it brought back so many memories from that time. I’m delighted that Into Paradise are in it too!”. Last week, I received another email from Dave with a new track. He wrote, “If they ever film your book I hope this song makes it on to the soundtrack!”. Having listened to it multiple times, I’d be thrilled to have this song on a soundtrack! ‘Underground Song’ hits hard like the best of Into Paradise, a poignant ballad about someone lost on his ‘musical feet’ pining for the days of the legendary Dublin venue. Namechecking Whipping Boy’s Fearghal McKee and Jeff Brennan of The Underground, if that isn’t enough to give you the chills, just wait for the end when Dave throws in a refrain from the stunning Whipping Boy single ‘Twinkle’ – “She’s the air I breathe, not too pure for me”. I can’t wait to hear more!

Former Into Paradise frontman David Long shows no sign of halting his prodigious musical output but he does make an all too rare return to the live scene tomorrow week for a solo acoustic show in Whelan’s. We have no idea if he will revisit the back catalog of the much loved band but were he to do so it might sound like this.

David Long the former frontman of much loved outfit Into Paradise has just released his third solo album ‘The Cult Of Two. Inspired by Roque of Cloudberry Records we decided to pose David a few questions and he was kind enough to respond. ‘The Cult Of Two’ is out now on iTunes and Spotify.

Where/when was the album recorded?

The album was recorded in North Kerry over a 3 month period from February to April of this year. It started with a postcard of a painting called Klein Blue by the French artist Yves Klein that was on my fridge. I started writing small piano pieces to go with the painting.

Is there anyone else on the album?

Shane O’Neill is on “The road ahead”. It was originally called “Between the earth and the sky”. I got that title from a book I was reading about North Korea, But decided to use the title “the road ahead” in the end. I had the shell of the song and sent it to Shane and 3 days later he sent his version back to me and I just loved it.

Who did the artwork?

My wife Aisling did the artwork for this album. It’s a photograph she took in Limerick. I just thought it fitted perfectly for the album title and music.

Any CD or vinyl release planned?

I hate CD’s. Nothing to do with the sound quality. Just the way they look. I love vinyl. But I’m not a vinyl snob. I listen to my vinyl on a €40 portable player in the kitchen and I love it. At some stage I will release my 3 solo albums on vinyl. And when I do I will just make 100 copies of each.

What are you working on next / any longer term plans?

I write most days, It’s what I do. So I don’t plan anything. After a while things just fall into place and you realise you have an album finished.

Do you have a project with Shane O’Neill (Blue in Heaven)?

Not really. Myself and Shane go back a long way. We were in a band called “Amuse” in the early eighties. A while back he sent me a piece of music and I put vocals on it and it became “Albert the painter”. I love that track. I was reading Herman Hesse’s short stories and one of the stories was called “The Painter” and that’s where I got the idea for the Albert song.

He’s painting his visions on cardboard left in empty houses… That’s me, Ha!

Any plans to tour? 🙂

No plans to tour. Maybe someday. When I’m sixty nine I’ll get helped up on the stage in my local pub in Kerry and make some noise.

On 2nd December 2013 Dan Hegarty broadcast an all new session from David Long of Into Paradise. David was accompanied in Studio 8 by Joe Fahey of Luggage. Here’s what the RTE 2fm website wrote:

It’s quite likely that David Long’s album ‘Water Has Memory’ won’t feature alongside names like Arcade Fire, Rudimental, and Foals in the numerous end of year album polls. Don’t let that put you off; Long’s debut ranks among the finest domestic albums of the year. After spending the late 1980s and early 1990s as vocalist with Into Paradise, David Long returned with new songs, and a new sound.

We recently posted a number of tracks from David Long, but today we have the contents of a cassette David had a hand in namely Backwards Into Paradise. Said cassette gets a mention in a recent interview David did with Nick Kelly of the Irish Independent:

“We did so many things wrong. We were naive,” he said. “We’d been in different bands since the age of 17 until we got signed, when I was 26. We were a long time doing rehearsals and playing small gigs and getting nowhere, so when the chance did come we were more shocked that anyone had an interest.”

That interest came from a London-based Dubliner who was looking for Irish bands to sign to his new independent record label.

David says: “Keith Cullen from Setanta went into Comet Records in Dublin and bought a DIY cassette of our music. The cover had a photo of a girl and a building. He rang me up to say he was interested in signing us to this new label called Setanta. Then he rang back two weeks later to say he was going to get Adrian Borland from The Sound to produce it. I couldn’t believe it.

“We were so lucky. I don’t think we would have got anywhere if Keith hadn’t bought that cassette. At that time we were called Backwards Into Paradise – I think it was Keith who suggested we shorten the name.”

David has fond memories of the period in Dublin in the late 1980s when so many good new bands emerged.

“When I was 17 or 18, me and Shane O’Neill from Blue In Heaven used to go to a place called The Magnet Bar on Pearse Street,” he said. “They used to have The Bodice Gigs where The Blades, Microdisney, Nun Attax, Chant Chant Chant all played. It was a brilliant scene.

“You had Rollerskate Skinny, Power Of Dreams, A House, Something Happens. The Stars Of Heaven were another great band. Nobody had any money. There was nothing happening in Dublin. It was simpler. No one was into music as a career; it was just a bit of fun.”

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In the absence of an official RTE Fanning Session archive consider this blog a humble starting point. Any musical submissions would be gratefully accepted as are any corrections or recollections... click on the pic to send an email or even better comment on the post in question. We are interested in anything recorded from irish radio or TV in the 1980s and 90s.